Houston soundly swept the Timberwolves 4-0 in their regular-season series due to simple mathematics and this reliable fact: 3 > 2.
In their best-of-seven playoff series that the Rockets still lead 2-1, the Wolves have noticeably narrowed a three-point shot disparity in which they were lapped during the regular season. In Saturday’s rollicking 121-105 victory in Game 3, they pulled dead even, at least for one night.
That development gives them a fighting chance against an opponent that shoots threes at a historical pace, in a series that won’t be a second sweep this season.
Outdone 69-34 in three-pointers made during that regular-season sweep, the Wolves made as many as Houston — 15 of them — but the Rockets hoisted 14 more attempts, 51 to the Wolves’ 37.